Whatawasteofmoney!Inreturnforanaverageof~44,000ofdebt,studentsgetanaverageofonly14hoursoflectureandtutorialtimeaweekinBritain.Annualfeeshaverisenfrom￡1,000to￡9,000inthelastdecade,butcontacttimeatuniversityhasbarelyrisenatall.Andgraduatingdoesn'tevenprovideanyguaranteeofadecentjob:sixintengraduatestodayareinnon-graduatejobs.Nowonderithasbecomefashionabletodenouncemanyuniversitiesaslittlemorethanelaboratecon-tricks(骗术).There'salotforstudentstocomplainabout:therepaymentthresholdforpayingbackloanswillbefrozenforfiveyears,meaningthatlower-paidgraduateshavetostartrepayingtheirloans;andmaintenancegrantshavebeenreplacedbyloans,meaningthatstudentsfrompoorerbackgroundsfacehigherdebtthanthosewithwealthierparents.Yetitstillpaystogotouniversity.Ifgoingtouniversitydoesn'tworkout,studentspayverylittle--ifany--oftheirtuitionfeesback:youonlystartrepayingwhenyouareearning￡21,000ayear.Almosthalfofgraduates--thosewhogoontoearnless--willhaveaportionoftheirdebtwrittenoff.It'snotjustthelecturesandtutorialsthatareimportant.Educationisthesumofwhatstudentsteacheachotherinbetweenlecturesandseminars.Studentsdonotmerelybenefitwhileatuniversity;studiesshow-theygoontobehealthierandhappierthannon-graduates,andalsofarmorelikelytovote.Whateveryourtalents,itisextraordinarilydifficulttogetaleadingjobinmostfieldswithouthavingbeentouniversity.Recruiterscircleeliteuniversitieslikevultures(兀鹰).Manytopfirmswillnotevenlookatapplicationsfromthosewholacka2.1,i.e.,anupper-secondclassdegree,fromaneliteuniversity.Studentsatuniversityalsomeetthoselikelytobeinleadingjobsinthefuture,formingcontactsforlife.Thismightnotberight,butschool-leaverswhofailtoacknowledgeasmuchriskmakingthewrongdecisionaboutgoingtouniversity.Perhapsthereasonwhysomanyuniversitiesoffertheirstudentssolittleistheyknowstudyingatatopuniversityremainsabrilliantinvestmentevenifyoudon'tlearnanything.Studyingatuniversitywillonlybecomelessattractiveifemployersshifttheirfocusawayfromwheresomeonewenttouniversity--andthereisnosignofthathappeninganytimesoon.Schoololeaversmaymoan,buttheyhavelittlechoicebuttoembraceuniversityandthestudentdebtthatcomeswithit.31.Whatistheauthor’sopinionofgoingtouniversity?